Does ethanol measure up?
He buys the gas without ethanol.
The reason is a simple matter of science. Conventional gas delivers more energy than a gallon that contains ethanol.
If it’s a gallon of E-10, which is a blend of 10 percent ethanol and conventional gas now widely available in the Kansas City area, there’s an energy difference of about 3.4 percent.
Now that may not seem like much when you’re topping off the tank this week. But over the course of a year of normal driving, it would take an additional 40 gallons of E-10 to go the same distance as conventional gas. If they were both priced the same, it would mean an extra $120.
If it’s E-85, a blend containing 85 percent ethanol that can be used in specially equipped vehicles, the energy loss soars and more than offsets its lower cost, even though E-85 is about 60 cents per gallon less at retail than conventional gas.
Mileage can suffer by about 25 percent with E-85, according to AAA. Over the course of a year, that amounts to an extra 300 gallons of E-85 to go the same distance as when using conventional gas. That means an average household, when the total cost of conventional gas and E-85 are compared, would spend nearly $100 more per year for E-85.
To Kigar, an Overland Park computer programmer and self-described “car nut," a consumer can’t make an informed decision about gas without taking into consideration its energy content. Even if ethanol-blended gas is cheaper, it can still end up costing you more because you’re getting less energy.
“That fact has not been made clear to people," he said. “In effect, you can end up paying more for less." More at Kansascity.com